Royal lee vilas



(N0 ModeL) R. L. VILAS.

CARD FILE.

No. 595,085. Patented 1360.7,189'1 WITNESSES:

' wrom/Er lhviTnn STaTns PATENT OFFICE.

ROYAL LEE YILAS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GLOBE COMPANY, OFSAME PLACE.

CARD-FILE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 595,085, dated December7, 1897.

Application filed February 20, 1897. Serial No. 624,434. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROYAL LEE VILAS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Card-Files, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

31 y invention relates to tiles for index-cards for use in libraries,offices, and other places where cards are used for purposes of indexingor reference; and it has for its object the improved construction ofsuch files, whereby their case of manipulation, security, and efficiencyare increased.

The novelty of my invention will be hereinafter set forth, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a card-fileembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the sameon the dotted line 00 cc of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section onthe dotted line y y of Fig. 1, looking to the right and with partsremoved to show the locking mechanism. Fig. 4c is a broken detail inperspective of a part of one of the filing-rods and its locking-bar.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the figures.

In its preferred form of construction the file is a drawer, of which aseries are usually employed and contained in a suitable case or cabinet.The drawer may have an interior width just sufficient for a single rowof cards which standi on edge transversely of the drawer, or, as seen inthe accompanying drawings, it may be wide enough to have two or morecard-compartments side by side and extending from the front to the rearof the drawer.

In the drawings, A represents the bottom of the drawer; B, its sidewalls; O, its front wall, and D its rear wall, with a dividing-partitionE to form two cardcompartments. Through the middle of each compartment,near its bottom and parallel therewith, is a filing-rod F, whose rearend, when the same is properly inserted in place, extends through aperforation a, Fig. 2, in the rear wall D, and its forward enlarged endextends through a perforation l) in the front wall O and is providedwith a thumb-piece or operating-button c for the ready introduction andremoval of the filing-rod.

In files of this character it is highly important and essential thatonly the custodians of the cabinet shall be able to withdraw anyfiling-rod to remove or replace any of the cards strung thereon and heldthereby, and to that end I place in the front wall any suitable lock G,controlled by a removable key cl, whose vertically-movable bolt 6 hassecured to it a transverse lockingbar f, provided with notches 9, (seeFig. 4B,) which when the bolt is lowered enter annular grooves h in thefiling-rods and hold them securely locked from longitudinal withdrawal.I prefer to pivot the locking-bar f, as at 2', to the bolt 6, so thatany filing-rod after removal can be inserted and pushed to place andbecome automatically locked in place by the tilting of the bar f withoutdisengaging any other filing-rod of the same series, and to that endIbevel or incline the enlarged part of the filing-rod just in rear ofthe groove h, as clearly shown at j, Fig. 4, so that this beveledportion will pass under the notch g and raise up the bar f until itcomes over the groove h, whereupon the barf will fall by gravity withits notch entering the groove h to lock the rod in place, or, as Iprefer it, the bolt 6 is a spring-projected bolt and the spring insuresthe engagement of the bar f with the filing-rod, as will be readilyunderstood, and to insure the unlocking of all the rods of a drawer whenits key is inserted and its bolt '6 raised thereby I provide pins orlugs Z, Fig. 3, over the bar f, which, should the bar tip at one end,would arrest it, and the further upward movement of the bolt 6 wouldcause its opposite end to be raised to release the rod on the side, aswill be readily understood.

To insure the partial automatic projection of each rod the moment it isunlocked by raising the bar f, I provide a spring on on the rear wall Dof the drawer, against which the ends of the filing-rods hear whenproperly inserted to place and which is thereby put under tension, asseen in Fig. 1, where a single flat spring receives the ends of bothfilingrods. Any suitable shields, as Gr, Figs. 1 and 2, cover the boltmechanism and are preferably inclined, as shown, for convenience ininspecting the cards. The filing-rods are provided With slidingcard-followers H,which may be of the usual or any suitable construction.

Where drawers with but a single card-compartment are employed, the bar fmay be dispensed with and the lower end of the bolt 6 may be providedWith a notch corresponding to the notch g to engage and lock thefilingrod. In Wider drawers having, say, four compartments I prefer toemploy two locks, one for each pair of filing-rods, with lockin gmechanism substantially like that shown in Fig. 3, and in drawers withthree compartments'a single lock may be used by extending thelocking-bar f, so as to engage all three of the filing-rods.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. In a card-file, thecombination of a filingcase provided with bearings for the filing-rod, acard-filing rod adapted to be inserted therein and provided with alock-engaging shoulder, locking mechanism controlled by a key andadapted to engage said shoulder and lock place and adapted to partiallyproject the rods when unlocked, substantially as described.

3. In a card-file, the combination of a filingcase provided withbearings for the card-filing rods, a plurality of card-filing rods F,having enlarged forward ends with inclines j, and grooves h, a springlocking-bolt 6, controlled by a key, a locking-bar f, with grooves g,pivoted to the bolt 6, and stops Z, therefor, substantially asdescribed.

ROYAL LEE VILAS. Witnesses:

M. H. WINKLER, WILLIAM J. PEoK.

